Have courage to acquit Weinstein, lawyer urges jury

Harvey Weinstein’s defence lawyer urged a jury to ‘‘have the courage’’ to acquit the Hollywood producer of rape and sexual assault yesterday at a trial widely considered to be pivotal for the MeToo movement.

Donna Rotunno said that to make the right decision they had to ‘‘black out all the noise’’ from the social movement against sexual harassment and assault and to dismiss the prosecution case that ‘‘strips adult women of common sense, autonomy and responsibility’’.

‘‘No matter how unpopular you might be when you went back to work or back home, the [prosecutor’s office] has failed to prove their case. On behalf of Mr Weinstein we are imploring you to have the courage to tell them that by saying he’s not guilty,’’ she said.

Weinstein, 67, denies two charges of rape, one of sexual assault and two of predatory sexual assault, which carry a potential life sentence. Six women have testified against him but the case hinges on the testimony of two: Miriam Haley, 42, who says he assaulted her in his Manhattan flat in July 2006, and Jessica Mann, 34, who alleges he raped her in a hotel in New York in March 2013. Weinstein has declined to testify in his defence.

Haley said that before the alleged assault, she had declined an invitation to go to Paris with the producer because she did not think it professional. Afterwards she was worried that she had upset him. ‘‘Why would she care if she thought he liked her less?’’ Rotunno asked the jury. ‘‘She cared because they had more of a relationship than she wants you to know ... She cared because she was using him for jobs.’’

The lawyer said that Haley then allowed Weinstein to pay for her to fly to Los Angeles where her friend

Lawyer for Harvey Weinstein

‘‘No matter how unpopular you might be when you went back to work or back home, the [prosecutor’s office] has failed to prove their case.’’

Donna Rotunno

was expecting a baby. ‘‘Do you know any employers who are going to fly you to LA for two weeks because your friend is having a baby? Of course not.’’

Haley went to meet Weinstein in a hotel when she returned, ‘‘because that’s what you do when you’re seeing someone,’’ Rotunno said.

She said that Mann, the other key accuser, had pinched Weinstein’s cheek when she met him and told him he was cute. ‘‘That manipulation [of Weinstein] ... starts at the first meeting,’’ she said.

The jury will begin its deliberations on Wednesday after closing arguments from the prosecution.